Cherry Ginger Spritz
For this nonalcoholic cocktail, we start by cooking dark sweet cherries down to make gorgeous ruby-colored syrup. Not only does this intensely flavored cherry syrup spruce up a cocktail, but it can be used in so many different ways: syrup for pancakes, glaze for grilled meats and a topping for vanilla ice cream.
YIELD: about 1 1/2 cups of syrup
Recipe created by: Meg Raines
Ingredients
Syrup:
- 12 oz. sweet red cherries (about 2 cups)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
Spritzer:
- Ginger ale
- Mint leaves
- Lime wedges
Method
- Rinse and de-stem the cherries (no need to take the pits out because the mixture will be strained) and place in a heavy sauce pot, add the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, when the cherries are soft mash the cherries with a potato masher or fork and continue cooking for another 8-10 minutes, until the syrup begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and let cool for another 5-10 minutes.
- Strain the cherry syrup over a heatproof bowl, pressing the cherry pulp with the back of a spoon to release all the syrup. Cool the syrup completely before using. At this point the syrup can be refrigerated up to 2 weeks for future use.
- To make the spritzer; add 1/4 cup of syrup in a tall glass, add ice and pour in ginger ale. Garnish with a squeeze of a lime wedge and sprig of mint. Enjoy on a hot summer day!